Celtics news 365: Jaylen Brown loves mystique of Madison Square Garden

Jaylen Brown had a big game Saturday night as the Boston Celtics defeated the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.  The second-year man says he loves playing in the stoic building.

Boston Celtics great Paul Pierce had some of his best games at Madison Square Garden.  Current star Kyrie Irving enjoys playing there and future star Jaylen Brown says he loves the atmosphere of the historic building.

If the proof is in the stats, Brown certainly does love that building.

The second-year swingman scored 24 points in the team’s 121-112 win over the New York Knicks.  Among those points scored were two fourth-quarter dunks.  One came on an ally-op from Irving and the second was an enthusiastic exclamation point sending the Madison Square Garden crowd off into the night.

As a player who seems to rise to the occasion on the big stage, Jaylen Brown talked about the MSG experience and why he loves it so much.

"“This is one of my favorite places to play,” Brown said following the game, via The Boston Herald.  “Just the aroma, the smoke.  Every time I play here at Madison Square Garden, there’s a stoic type of feel here.  The history, the atmosphere is fantastic.  It’s amazing to come out and there’s like a misty, mystified court.  The crowd is cheering, it’s almost like you’re playing in a throwback game 20 years ago.”"

It’s too bad Brown didn’t have the chance to play in the old Boston Garden.  If he elevates his game like he did Saturday night as MSG, imagine how he would play on his own historic court 41 games out of the year.

Guerschon Yabusele could be in Maine for awhile

With the addition of Greg Monroe, the Boston Celtics has assigned rookie big man Guerschon Yabusele to the Maine Red Claws for an extended period of time.

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This allows him to get playing time and further develop his game.  Averaging 20.5 points and 7.2 rebounds during his stint with the Red Claws this season, playing there for a while will be good for him.

Due to the frontcourt depth the team now has, Yabusele has no place in the rotation.  That doesn’t mean, however, that he won’t be called on to contribute late in the season.  That’s why head coach Brad Stevens has urged the rookie to stay ready as he is one frontcourt injury away from be called upon again.

Coach’s corner

The Boston Celtics have won the first two games following the NBA All-Star break.  While the team has looked much better in victories over the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks, Stevens is not overall impressed.

While there has been flashed on both offense and defense, the Celtics coach knows the team still has to clean up some mistakes and player a cleaner brand of basketball.

"“We did OK in a lot of areas.  We made some mistakes,” Stevens said following Saturday night’s game.  “We’ve got to play a little bit cleaner probably, but obviously on the second night of a back-to-back, I thought the energy and competitive spirit was great, all 96 minutes that we played this weekend.”"

Next: The 5 faces of the Boston Celtics: The coach, the stars and the future

The Celtics will hope to extend their winning streak to three games as they take on the Memphis Grizzlies.